


Nothing Gold (or Red) Can Stay

by Neshoba



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Background Character Death, Future Fic, Gen, Good Theo Raeken, Major Original Character(s), Next Generation, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Character Death, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Canon, Post-Teen Wolf (TV), Starts Off Sad But Will Get Better, Stiles Stilinski Has Issues, Surprises, Teen Wolf Next Generation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-25 01:48:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22128052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neshoba/pseuds/Neshoba
Summary: Some two decades after the events of "The Wolves of War", the pack has spread far and wide, but in the wake of marriage and childbirth, its numbers have been bolstered.  Long ago tragedies have given rise to a happy future, but when tragedy strikes once more, members both old and new are left to pick up the pieces.
Relationships: Chris Argent/Melissa McCall, Cora Hale/Isaac Lahey (past), Ethan/Jackson Whittemore, Lyda Martin/Jordan Parrish (past), Lydia Martin/Stiles Stilinski, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Scott McCall & Theo Raeken, Scott McCall/Malia Tate
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	1. Wolf Moon

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is welcome and very much appreciated. If the tone is a little sad to start with, stick around. You might be surprised. There will be a number of them along the way, I promise.

**_FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2032 (NEARLY TWENTY YEARS AFTER THE SHOW)_ **

“Dr. Raeken, you have visitors at the nurses’ station. Dr. Raeken, you have visitors at the nurses’ station,” the voice rang out over the intercom.

When Theo got to the aforementioned location, he smiled when he saw the visitors. “Hey, you two,” he greeted his children. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

His son, Tate, held up a bag of takeout. “You told Dad that you were going to be working late tonight, so he sent us down here to bring you dinner.”

“Your father is too good to me,” the chimera chuckled, taking the food and peering inside. The scent of Indian spices assaulted his senses in a good way. “But you know that I can smell you’re hiding something … even over the Rogan Josh. Spill.”

Talia, his daughter (and Tate’s fraternal twin), smirked. “I told you it wouldn’t work. Trying to play the dutiful offspring didn’t cut it, so let’s try some good old-fashioned honesty. Can we go to a party this weekend?”

Tate rolled his eyes. “I thought surely the ginger and cinnamon, if not the cloves, would buy us some time to work up to asking.”

“Does your father even know you’re here?” Theo asked.

Talia nodded. “He told us to ask you.”

Theo rolled his eyes in a way so reminiscent of his son’s gesture only a moment before that it was like looking in a mirror. “So, I get to play the bad guy?” he asked. “I haven’t played that role in years.”

Both teenagers wisely kept quiet, and the chimera finally sighed. “When is it?”

“Tonight. It starts at nine,” Tate offered helpfully.

“It _starts_ at nine?” Theo repeated incredulously. “I’m not liking the sound of this so far.”

Talia cut in quickly. “Pop, it’s not a school night.”

“I’m aware. I’m also aware that if the party is starting that late, there’s no way you’re going to be home by midnight. You remember midnight, don’t you? As in your curfew?” Theo reminded them rhetorically.

This time, it was Talia that rolled her eyes. “We’ll be _fine_. We can take care of ourselves. Werecoyotes, remember?”

Answering a question with a question was his usual shtick. Tate’s personality tended to default to their other father, whereas Talia was often Theo made over. He supposed he deserved it. “That doesn’t mean invulnerable,” he said coolly in a protective parental tone. They knew better than to talk, so finally, he relented. “Okay, but you two are designated drivers. Anyone that can get drunk stays out from behind the wheel.”

Both children assaulted him in a tight embrace, and he had laughed. After a moment, Talia pulled back. “Designated drivers?” she repeated. “Does that mean …?”

Fishing the keys from his pocket, Theo held them up on one finger. “My truck doesn’t get a scratch on it … and it comes home with a full tank of gas. Do I make myself clear?” he asked as his daughter snatched the ring away, agreeing emphatically. “And quit asking so innocently. I know you have the Jeep and Tate has his motorcycle, but I have a sneaking suspicion your Dad has already ponied up something a bit more reliable.”

“You two know each other too well,” Tate grinned.

“Get out of here,” Theo snickered. “Text us the address and let us know when you get there and when you leave. Do I know the parents? Do I know other kids who will be there?”

Talia set him at ease. “It’s at the lake house. Noah’s throwing the party.”

“The twins will be there,” Tate added.

Theo glanced at his daughter. “Are you and your cousins going to get along?”

“We’re fine,” his son assured him.

“I’m not asking you. You and Davi have never been the problem. The rivalry between Dani and someone who _isn’t_ you on the other hand ….”

Talia was exasperated. “It’s not my fault she called me a cheating bitch in front of her Devenford Prep asshat friends. She basically implied that I was cheating and using my abilities to beat her in lacrosse.”

“And were you?”

She snorted in derision. “I do not need heightened reflexes to kick her ass on the field. She’s just insecure.”

Her father was reportedly much the same at her age, Theo thought to himself. “Keep it that way. Coach Dunbar has been giving me a cold shoulder since before you two were born. I don’t want to give him fuel to throw on that fire. Do your best—do your _human_ best—and have fun at the party.”

They ran away down the hall. “Love you, Pop.”

He couldn’t help but beam from ear-to-ear. “Love you guys, too.” He turned his attention back to his iPad so he could continue charting, pausing to look up and call out. “And go see your grandmother. She’s in her office.” Neither one of them responded, but an uptick in both heartrates—above and beyond the excitement of the party—told him that they had heard him. They loved Melissa, so he had little doubt that they were already barreling down the stairwell towards the emergency room.

Theo was distracted enough that he didn’t notice someone behind him until they spoke. “I swear those two are so cut from the same cloth that if I didn’t know better, I would say both of them belonged to both fathers.”

The chimera turned to see Dr. Geyer eyeing him with a very knowing eyebrow. Theo almost leered at him suspiciously before finally shaking his head. “They’re both very clearly their mother’s children,” Theo replied. “The rest is just an argument for nurture versus nature.”

“You’re the expert,” the hospital’s Chief of Staff acknowledged.

“And _that_ , too, is an argument—perhaps against—nature versus nurture, given my twisted upbringing,” Theo acknowledged. The dark-skinned man had been clued into everything back when the Anuk-Ite’s influence had exposed them all. When the creature’s influence ended, some people forgot, some chose willful ignorance, and a select few—like Geyer—remembered everything. “I’m just a pediatric cardiologist with a hobby.”

Geyer shook his head. “You’re an outstanding pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, but you’re also a published and board-certified clinical geneticist. You’ve earned the bragging rights. If you’re not going to shout it to the rooftops, at least don’t knock yourself. You don’t have anything you still need to atone for.”

“I appreciate that, but your son clearly disagrees,” the younger man pointed out. “I nearly drove a wedge between my Alpha and his wife, and our infidelity cost her life.”

Geyer was quick to disagree. “Malia chose to bring those two beautiful kids into the world, knowing what, as a werecoyote, it would mean. Don’t belittle that sacrifice by even suggesting that she would have it any other way. You made a mistake, and you moved on. Clearly, Scott did as well. I’m assuming he forgave you. He did marry you, after all.”

Theo smiled. “He did, but that’s a testament to his character—not mine. You know better than most what it meant for him to treat my child as his own.”

“And you his,” Dr. Geyer said, again with an undercurrent of certainty that made the hairs on the back of Theo’s neck stand up. “The only person who holds your past against you these days is you.”

The chimera chortled. “You can’t seriously believe that. Stiles won’t even be in the same room with me, and Liam ….”

Geyer cut him off. “My stepson’s issues have nothing to do with you, at least not in the way you think.”

“What do you mean?” Theo asked, thoroughly confused.

“I’m not entirely certain, but let’s just say I have my suspicions. It’s not my place to say, but it doesn’t matter now,” Geyer digressed. “I’m given to understand that you and Stiles have never seen eye-to-eye, and with some people, that will never change. But everyone else? I mean, you technically killed your now-husband, and your now-mother-in-law loves you to death.”

Theo all-but-guffawed. “ _To death_ is probably very apt. She tolerates me. She loves her grandkids.”

David was clearly exasperated. “You don’t give yourself enough credit. The best people I know, to borrow from Winston Churchill, are the ones who went through Hell. You did that quite literally. The villain that went into the ground isn’t the hero that came out. Everyone—Stiles included, if he could get his head out of his ass long enough—knows it … except maybe you.”

It took every bit of restraint he had for the chimera to maintain his mask of composure. He wasn’t averse to a show of emotions, but his shift had just started. If he lost it now, he’d be inside of his own head for the rest of the night, and that wasn’t fair to his patients. “Thank you, David,” he settled on.

“You’re more than welcome, Theo. I’ll see you next week.”

Theo started to yawn, so he looked down at his watch. It read 12:38 am. He walked back to the breakroom to grab his bribe from the refrigerator. Sitting down on the couch in the doctor’s lounge, he pulled one knee against his chest and dialed his cell phone. Switching it to speaker mode, he grabbed a bite, hastily swallowing it when Scott answered faster than expected.

 _“Hey, you,”_ came the greeting, and Theo could hear the smile in the other man’s voice. He could see those dimples in his mind’s eye all-too-clearly. His Alpha was not only his husband but his best friend, and in rare moments, the chimera imagined the reverse was true, although that had a lot to do with the distance that their marriage had created between the veterinarian and his FBI agent “brother.”

“Hey, yourself,” Theo warmed. While not a true werewolf, his connection with Scott was enough that he could feel strong emotions through their pack bond. It settled him. “The kids make it home yet?”

 _“Not yet,”_ the True Alpha told him. _“Apparently, someone told them they needed to play designated driver, and since the party wasn’t over yet but filled with a bunch of drunk and horny high schoolers, they asked if they could stay until they could either get everyone home or any stragglers agreed to stay at the lake house.”_

Theo chuckled. “Definitely their father’s child. They’ve got to look out for everyone.”

_“As a reminder, you’re the one that told them to be responsible for everyone. I told them they could stay a while longer, at least until Noah and Davi can manage. Noah’s too smart to drink, given how it interacts with his antipsychotics, and Davi can’t get drunk any more than our kids can.”_

The chimera smiled. “First off, call him Dave. He has currently decided Davi makes him sound immature,” he laughed. “Secondly, thanks for reminding me. I need to check the computer and make sure his last levels within range.”

_“First off, they will always be Davi and Dani to me, but the fact that you know this is why you’re the better uncle ….”_

“Better, maybe, but you’re still their favorite. You’re everyone’s favorite,” Theo interrupted playfully, and he could feel a flush of embarrassment despite their distance. “Now quit blushing.”

 _“Secondly,”_ Scott continued with playful attempt at irritation. _“Noah’s doing fine. You’re not his psychiatrist. Don’t do anything to get you brought up on a HIPAA violation.”_

Theo’s own amusement was now replaced by regret. “You mean don’t do anything that will piss Stiles off,” he translated. “I won’t. Lydia gave me written consent to access his records, and so long as Stiles doesn’t know about it, he can’t tell me to stop. He’s a good kid who’s important to our kids—and you. Lydia’s a friend, and she just wants another set of eyes on him. All I’m doing is checking lab work and offering unsolicited advice if I see something.”

 _“Thanks,”_ Scott offered softly. _“I wish he understood, but even if he doesn’t, I’m not going to stop watching out for him or his son. I just wish we could smell mental illness and its episodes. It’s hard for them to see Noah go through this.”_

“I know,” Theo assured him. “And just as a reminder, I’m not crazy about Stiles still not liking me, but I’m not a dick… anymore. He lost his mother to mental illness. I can’t imagine what having to sit by, helpless, and watch your child go through that must be like. If it was Tate or Talia, I would be beside myself.”

 _“You and me both,”_ Scott concurred. _“Thankfully, werecoyotes. Worrying about childhood schizophrenia, not to mention other childhood illnesses, was never something we had to even consider.”_

Theo could feel the sympathy. “Childhood schizophrenia is something else,” he corrected. “He’s got hebephrenic schizophrenia with affective features and a dissociative fugue states that didn’t start until he was thirteen. Childhood schizophrenia would have probably started earlier.”

Dead silence on the other end, and the chimera winced. “Sorry. Too many progress notes tonight. Didn’t mean to slip back into clinical mode.”

 _“It’s fine,”_ Scott told him, and Theo could feel the mirth. _“You’re a doctor, Theo. It’s a part of you that I love that I wouldn’t change even if I could. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have helped you through college and med school. Besides, it’s kind of sexy.”_

Theo outright laughed. “Don’t think I don’t know how much of a sacrifice that was, and I don’t just mean the money. You had a veterinary practice to run and still had to do ninety percent of the childcare. I swear once these loans are paid off, I will make it up to you … and you only like me for my ass.” The distinct sound of liquid through the nose and an accompanying “ow” from behind him meant he had clearly been overheard by someone other than Scott.

_“You made someone shoot coffee out of their nose again, didn’t you?”_

“Maybe,” Theo grinned.

 _“Liar. I can hear you smirking from here, and the only ass I love is you. Keep your body parts to yourself,”_ Scott chuckled. _“And I wish you hadn’t taken out so many loans. I had the money.”_

Theo shook his head, realizing how silly it was, since he wasn’t using FaceTime. “I couldn’t have asked that of you. Besides, I needed to do this on my own.”

 _“Which is why you refused Derek and Jackson’s help?”_ Scott asked. _“You didn’t think I knew about that, did you? Both are loaded beyond measure, and Peter left me the lion’s share of his wealth since Jackson had plenty of money already.”_

“I should have known you’d find out,” Theo admitted. “Derek is like your big brother, and Jackson has a big mouth.”

_“She was their family.”_

Theo physically hurt. _“She was your family, too. I cost them a cousin and a sister, but I cost you a wife. I cost Peter a daughter and his life.”_

 _“No. You gave her a child. You gave_ me _a child. You know what that bond is like more than anyone. Peter died of a broken heart. He got to see his grandchildren, and he was smiling when he left this world.”_

The chimera said nothing. Broken heart syndrome was a very real thing, but it was temporary and rarely fatal … among humans. There was a deeper connection between werewolves, which Malia still was, even if her mother’s werecoyote bloodline was dominant. Melissa and Geyer had both been stunned to have to write takotsubo cardiomyopathy as a cause of death for a werewolf, certainly one as prone to being hard to kill as Peter Hale. Honestly? It, along with his own history with Tara and the Dread Doctors, was a contributing factor in Theo’s decision to pursue cardiology.

_“Get out of your head.”_

Those five words made Theo smile. Scott knew him far too well, which was hardly shocking. He remained quiet, however, for a little while longer. “Do you ever regret it? Marrying me so we could raise our children together without the paternity questions. It was quite a scandal in our small little town, after all. You could have found happiness with someone else, without the whispers speculating about our nonexistent sex life that I know you hear just as often as I do.”

 _“Not in the slightest,”_ Scott responded, and the lack of hesitation confirmed it to be true. _“I had and lost three great loves in my life. Allison. Kira. Malia. I didn’t imagine I could ever love anyone or anything half as much as any of them. I was so wrong, though. I found three new ones that were even stronger: our son, our daughter, and our family—which very much includes you. That’s all the love I’ll ever need. Besides, it’s not our problem if people want to fantasize about the two of us getting it on. Face it, we don’t just look good for our age, we’re hot.”_

Theo laughed, despite himself. “I hate you.”

Scott laughed. _“No, you don’t. You love me, and you know it.”_

“I thought I was the egomaniac in this relationship,” the chimera grinned.

_“That hasn’t been you in decades. You’re a respected doctor and an amazing father, and our lack of sharing a bed for anything other than sleep aside, you’re a fantastic husband.”_

The True Alpha’s words flooded over him as the bond confirmed it. “Can I just say ‘ditto’, so I don’t die of embarrassment?”

 _“Sure,”_ Scott told him. _“I don’t want to tell our kids that I killed their father.”_

“Speaking of our kids, I get the feeling Geyer knows more than he should. You never told Melissa, did you? Do you think she could have told him?”

_“We didn’t even tell our kids. I would tell them before I told Mom. They’re both equally our kids—and both equally her grandkids—that’s the figural extent that anyone besides me or you know.”_

Theo nodded, again, embarrassed that he had done so … again. “If you ever want to tell her—or anyone—I’ll support your decision.”

 _“I know,”_ the werewolf promised. _“But they’re werecoyote teenagers. They’re outsiders enough. They don’t need to feel like freaks, too. People can gossip and remain blissfully ignorant, so long as ….”_

Scott got quiet, and Theo could feel a slight sense of something amiss. “Scott? What’s wrong?”

After a moment, Scott finally spoke. _“I thought I heard something outside. Hang on while I go take a look,”_ the Alpha told him, not because he wasn’t carrying his cell with him, but because he was obviously focusing his senses on whatever he was listening for.

After a moment, the silence on the other end was broken. Theo heard a gunshot. “SCOTT!” he shouted into the phone, throwing himself forward clumsily as he rushed towards the parking lot. He didn’t stop to tell anyone he was going. He wasn’t thinking that clearly. The only thing he could think was that he needed to get to the man on the phone.

He ran to the parking lot before remembering that the kids had his truck. He didn’t stop to contemplate his options. Instead, he simply ran. He ran as fast as he possibly could—faster than he had ever run. Ripping off his clothes with every step, he felt bones break and mend, muscles snap and knit themselves back together. As the pain of claws and extra hair pushed through his flesh unnaturally, his teeth lengthened into fangs and his vision shifted to a part of the electromagnetic spectrum no human eyes could see. Dropping to all fours, he ran faster still. His wolf form was faster than his coyote form by a few miles per hour, but in this moment, every edge counted. He needed to get to Scott.

He was halfway there when he heard the singularly most devastating sound he’d ever heard. He not only heard it, but he felt it ….

… Miles away, Lydia had screamed.

Theo didn’t stop, but he whimpered with an emotional pain far worse than any physical torture he’d ever suffered at the hands of the Dread Doctors or anyone else. He could still feel Scott, but the connection was weak. It was fading. The alarm and urgency rippled through the pack bonds. Theo could feel panic from Ethan and Jackson all the way in London. He could feel it from Derek, who was visiting Cora in South America. He’d only met her once—during Malia and Peter’s funeral—which was the same time he met Isaac, who was currently on the verge of a breakdown somewhere in France. Hayden had left Beacon Hills years ago and never returned, but Theo could feel her as well. He couldn’t pinpoint her location, because fear turned to rage. Across town was a very angry Liam Dunbar.

Walking upright once more, Theo’s bare feet stepped on broken glass. As the shards dug into his flesh, he didn’t notice. All he could do was stare in disbelief at remnants of their home. Broken and filled with bullet holes, the house itself had been reduced to little more than ash. Completely oblivious to his nudity, he walked in to find an equally naked Jordan Parrish cradling an injured Scott McCall.

“I came as soon as Lydia called me,” the Hellhound told him. “When I got here, the house was already aflame, but I was able to absorb it before it reached him. Unfortunately, fire isn’t our problem.”

The harbinger of death motioned to numerous bullet holes riddling Scott’s body. Even if he hadn’t seen the telltale signs at the edges of the wounds, Theo knew the scent of yellow wolfsbane. Kneeling next to the amortal guardian of the Nemeton, Theo took his husband and friend into his arms. The Alpha opened his eyes and tried to give the chimera a bloody smile. “Sorry to interrupt your shift.”

“What happ….” Theo couldn’t even muster the words as tears fell down his face as choked the very air from his lungs. He didn’t care how it happened. He had to fix it. Grabbing Scott’s arm, he began leeching the pain so quickly it threatened to overwhelm him, streaks so numerous and intense that his entire arm was black. “Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”

Scott breathed a little easier, and he focused his gaze more clearly. “No more. That nearly killed you,” the Alpha managed, even lacing his words with the crimson power of his eyes.

“Better you than me,” Theo wept.

“No,” Scott corrected. He reached over to give the former Deputy-now-Sheriff’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “It was Monroe. She hadn’t made a move in so many years that I thought we were safe—from her, at least. Parrish, I need you to go get our kids. They’re at the lake house. Get them all to safety. Take them to Chris. He and Mom will keep them out of harm’s way.”

The Hellhound’s eyes were glazed over, but he nodded obediently. Not a werewolf, and certainly not a Beta, he nonetheless respected the man who was dying before him. As Jordan did as he was instructed, far more inured to death as a soldier and Hellhound than the rest, he could still be heard sobbing when as far away as his police cruiser.

Scott grabbed weakly at the cell phone that was just out of reach. Theo stared at him incredulously. “What are you….”

“Siri, call Liam,” the Alpha choked out. Theo understood, but he couldn’t even look at his friend as he put the phone to his husband’s ear.

 _“SCOTT!”_ Liam literally roared.

“Liam, I need you to do something for me,” Scott said weakly.

His words robbed the Beta of his fury. He cried into the phone in understanding. He knew Scott was telling him goodbye. _“Scott, no. Please!”_ he begged.

“Liam, I need you to go to Chris’. Jordan’s gone to get the kids and get them to safety. It was Monroe. I can’t let her get to them. _You_ can’t let her get to them. This is the most important thing that I could ever ask of anyone. I’m trusting you with the most important thing in my world.”

Scott hung up, not giving Liam a chance to speak further. He smiled weakly at Theo. “He needs something important to do; otherwise, his anger will be like a nuclear missile. As it is, he’s going to want to go after Monroe, but this will buy a little time.”

“Can you stop being an Alpha for one minute so I can get you patched up?” Theo croaked.

Scott shook his head. “You’re a doctor, Theo. You know better. Jordan burned away what he could, but too much has made it into my system.”

Theo almost screamed. “What do you want me to do? Do you think I can just sit here and watch you die?”

“You have to,” Scott told him. “But not before you do something for me.”

“Anything,” Theo agreed quickly.

Scott’s voice, barely above a whisper, “Come closer.”

Theo obeyed, and as soon as he did, Scott buried his fangs deep into his husband’s neck. The chimera recoiled, scrambling away from the werewolf in horror. “What the Hell?”

“Liam would protect my children with his life, but he’s not their father and he’s not an Alpha,” Scott told him.

“Well, I’m only one of those things,” Theo reminded him bitterly, his despair palpable.

Scott smiled. “Not for long. I need you to do something you did once long ago for the same reason but under very different circumstances.”

When Theo saw the look in those eyes, everything fell into place, and he let out an agonizing roar. “No,” he protested in agony. “You can’t ask that of me. Not that. Not me.”

“You’re the only one I trust with what matters most in my life. I need to know that my family—my children _and_ you—are safe. My Alpha spark is still fighting, trying to hold on, but it’s a losing battle and we both know it,” Scott told him gently. “As my body fails, I can use that last little bit to speed up your transformation so that it’s not lost. You’re not a werewolf yet, so I can’t just will it to you. You have to take my power, or it will die with me.”

The True Alpha took Theo’s hand in his. “I know what I’m asking of you. I trust you with the very best of me, and I need you to live so _you_ will be the very best of me.” He placed his own hand over the exposed flesh over Theo’s heart. “I need you to forgive yourself so you will be the very best of you. Keep being the father, the doctor, and the man that you already are.”

Guiding the chimera’s hand over his own heart, Scott smiled. “We may not have married under the most traditional circumstances, but I promised you my heart. I meant it then, and I mean it now. I love you, and I need you to live. I need all of you to live.”

Theo couldn’t even look at him. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t breathe. Scott called his name, lacing his voice with command. Theo managed to lift his eyes to meet his, and he could feel the power forcing him to do what he was willing every cell of his body to resist. Ultimately, he couldn’t, and his claws reticently pushed their way into the werewolf’s flesh and into his heart.

Scott’s breathing stuttered, but he never stopped smiling at Theo. He never averted his eyes for even a split second. Theo felt a part of himself die as those red eyes turned to gold. At that moment, he felt a change within him. Gasping for air, he knew his own eyes had begun turning blue, and as the color—and life—drained from his husband’s eyes, he felt a rush of power that overtook him, and he passed out, his human hand still pressed against Scott’s chest.

Theo was finally awakened by a wail almost worthy of Lydia. Lydia was standing next to him, but it wasn’t her keening that roused him. Melissa McCall fell to her knees on his other side. He felt like a stranger in his own skin, his body the same outwardly but very different internally. The power he once craved now felt like a stain on his very soul. His eyes burned a brilliant crimson as he stared at the grieving mother. “I’m so sorry,” he stammered. “I… I…”

His mother-in-law turned his face towards her, and he braced himself for whatever barrage she was about to launch against him. Verbal, physical, whatever. He was ready for anything. He deserved whatever pain she wanted to inflict ….

… Instead, she pulled him into a tight hug, holding him tightly as she buried her face against his neck. Lydia wrapped a blanket from her car around him before joining in the embrace over the body of their fallen loved one.

In the days that followed, there were no further attacks on the pack. Beacon Hills was quiet as the grave. Theo wished to Hell there had been. He was less motivated by the vengeance that consumed Liam as much as he prayed for the death that he felt he deserved. As he stood in the bathroom, staring at his reflection in the mirror, the former chimera-turned-werewolf wanted to gouge his red eyes out. He settled for punching the glass, shattering the image as pieces scattered far and wide.

Meanwhile, across town, unnoticed by the mourning pack whose world had shaken, a young man knocked on the door to an empty loft apartment. “Uncle Derek! I need your help!” he called out, the fear evident in the timbre of his voice even as his eyes flashed red. "Mom is dead, and I don't know what to do."


	2. Second Chance at First Line

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As everyone tries to find their place and their way in this new pack filled with strangers, revelations come to like that shake up the status quo as much as the deaths of recent months. Everything is changing, and things will never be the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is focused on original characters--the children of the canons. Obviously, the familiar faces will still be around and popping up regularly. If you're sad about certain characters being gone, stick around. There's a lot that will be happening as the story unfolds.

For one group of parents watching the lacrosse game from the bleachers, things were more uncomfortable than exciting. Jackson was flanked by Ethan on one side and Lydia on the other. While the married couple chatted idly, the former Kanima noticed the pensive expression on the face of his one-time girlfriend. Reaching over, he took her hand and offered a soft smile. “I don’t need chemo-signals to know something is on your mind.”

“Just thinking how different things are now from this time a few months ago,” the banshee explained. “I should be feeling conflicted cheering for my son and Beacon Hills against Davi and Dani and Devenford Prep and vice versa. Does that make me a bad mother?”

Ethan chuckled. “Hardly. You’re every bit as much the twins’ mother as Noah’s. You carried them for nine months, after all.”

Lydia smiled back. She’d been a surrogate for the two out there on the field now. She hadn’t contributed an egg to the mix, but did that make them any less a part of her? Literally? No, she wasn’t related to them at all. Thanks to some advice courtesy of Theo’s genetic expertise, Davi and Dani were one hundred percent the product of the two men sitting next to her. Explaining manipulation of primordial germ cells and the SOX17 gene to a layperson wasn’t worth the effort.

“You’re also the parent of record who’s a short drive away versus an ocean away,” Jackson pointed out.

“You two flew twelve hours just to watch their first game,” Lydia pointed out.

Ethan cut in. “First game at a new school. They’re still mad at us for pulling them out of their old school.”

“They’ll get over it. With Monroe still out there, I want them closer to all of you,” Jackson countered. “If things weren’t so unstable in London, I would have not only pulled them out of that school but out of this country.”

Lydia squeezed his hand. “I’m still so amazed—and proud—of you two for all that you’ve done and continue to do to support and protect the supernatural community there. I really hoped once the Anuk-Ite was dealt with, the hysteria would end.”

“For most, it did,” Ethan acknowledged. “Most don’t even remember, but unfortunately, there’s always zealots… those who would kill us for being different. I don’t want our kids anywhere near that life if we can help it. I want our werewolf son and our human daughter to grow up safe and normal—if anything like that actually exists in Beacon Hills.”

The banshee raised a scrutinizing brow at the now quiet Kanima-werewolf. “They’ll understand,” she assured him.

“I just don’t want to jeopardize our relationship because I don’t know what they Hell I’m doing,” Jackson confessed.

“You pulled them out of school to protect them,” she reiterated. “You didn’t _kill_ them and then confess that you were their father on your deathbed.”

He almost wanted to laugh. “You know, the second part hurt a lot more than the first. I forgave Derek years ago, even before I knew he was my cousin.”

She shook her head. “You’re not Peter. Your circumstances are nothing alike, and it’s okay to still be mad at him all these years later. He’s the one who robbed you a chance to know him as your father. He’s the one who robbed you of a chance to know your sister. But you still have a family. You have a husband. You have two amazing children. You have a niece and a nephew. You have a cousin.”

They all were quiet after that. Finally, Jackson said what they were all thinking, albeit at a voice barely above a whisper. “And a second cousin.”

“First cousin once removed,” Lydia corrected. “I wonder how he’s doing?”

Both, as well as Ethan, grew quiet once more, glancing over to another set of bleachers at the boy who’d come looking for his uncle after the death of his mother. He was far enough away that neither he nor his father nor Derek could hear the conversation over the din of the crowd. Jackson didn’t have a good answer, despite his conversations with Derek… because Derek didn’t have an answer himself.

“Derek, Isaac, or Camden?” Ethan asked. It was a fair question. Isaac and Cora shared a connecting flight back to California when they came for Malia’s funeral. While still in town, they shared a bed. It was a little more than a one-night stand, but not much more. There was no deep meaningful connection or love or anything of the sort, but they connected enough—spent enough time together—that she became pregnant.

Lydia didn’t say it, but she was thinking it. _All of them_. Isaac was never in the picture as a father. Cora raised her son alone for years before marrying a member of her pack of South America. That didn’t stop her from adhering to both local and family custom when it came to what he was named. She knew how close Isaac had been to his brother. Camden also carried Isaac’s family name—Argent, after Chris had adopted him so many years ago—but her own surname. He was a Hale, matrilineally named just as she, Laura, and Derek had been after their own mother.

For his part, Isaac looked possibly more lost than his son. No small feat given that during Cora’s time after leaving Beacon Hills, she’d not only had a child and gotten married, but she’d become an Alpha as well when her own passed the power to her. She’d inherited the spark of an ancient Alpha, and when hunters executed her pack, that spark had passed to Camden. Now sixteen years old, he was also an Alpha. The parallels to Scott were there, of course, but whereas Scott had risen to True Alpha through his own strength of character, Camden had inherited his through death. Every time he saw those red eyes, he was reminded of what had been taken away from him. He was a boy without a pack and without a family in his own estimation. He knew Derek. His uncle had come down to visit regularly since he was born. His father Isaac, however, was as much a stranger as everyone else in this town was.

Jackson looked at his cousin sympathetically. “Derek’s trying not to show it, but losing Cora nearly broke him. After Malia and Peter, he’d had years to recover, but so soon after….” He paused. “He hadn’t had a chance to get over Scott—still hasn’t—none of us have.”

That went without saying. Lydia had been on the phone with her son when she got premonition about Scott’s death. She’d screamed while talking to him. Noah had gone into a catatonic state and remained as such to this day. It didn’t take some keen insight to know she felt guilty, blaming herself. “He’ll be okay,” the lawyer smiled sympathetically at her friend. He squeezed her hand.

“He’s strong, like his mother,” Ethan offered.

Jackson countered with a chuckle. “And stubborn, like his father. Where’s Stiles, anyway?”

“I’m not sure,” she confessed. “He went to see him at Eichen House, but he should have been back by now. It’s not the same without our son being out there, but that team is everything to Noah. He would want us to be here cheering them on, especially now that Davi and Dani are playing for the Cyclones. They might not share DNA, but the twins are his brother and sister in his mind.”

Jackson nodded. “They’re a year younger than him, but I swear sometimes, I think all three of them came out of the womb at the same time. They’ve always been so in sync, not just with one another but Tate and Talia, too.”

The banshee took a deep breath. “It doesn’t feel right without them on the field, either. All five of them have a love for the game that puts all of you to shame.”

Ethan frowned. “How are they coping?”

“They never knew Malia, but Scott? You know Scott. Everyone loved him,” Lydia smiled.

Jackson nodded in agreement. “Even when I hated him, it was hard not to like him.”

She leaned against her former beau. “That’s when you were too emotionally constipated to admit it. Come to think of it,” she grinned, “I should have known you were a Hale. It’s like you and Derek were both cut from the ‘I don’t know how to process feelings’ cloth back then.”

“I’ve changed,” the hybrid protested.

“You have,” she agreed. “So has Derek. He goes to check on Tate and Talia every day. They might outwardly be coyotes like their mother, but they grieve like wolves, apparently. It’s why Theo hasn’t pushed back against them wanting to stay home from school for the rest of the year.”

Ethan smiled. “It’s a good thing they have an understanding Aunt Lydia for a principal so they can do that. I still can’t believe that’s you.”

“I was a two-time Fields Medal recipient,” she laughed. “It was pretty much all downhill from there. Besides, it lets me keep an eye on the kids—all of them now. It seemed important for someone to be there, in the know, after Mom decided to retire.”

“Are you sure it’s not too much trouble having them to contend with on top of everyone else?” Jackson worried.

Lydia shook her head. “Not at all. It’s nice having them not just in school but at home. Besides, I know when Noah comes home, he’ll be ecstatic. Davi and he have always gotten along—both and Tate, actually—I think they’ll make great roommates. For now, Davi has the room to himself, but he’s pretty low maintenance. Not at all like Dani. She reminds me of me… even if the rivalry she and Talia have reminds me of you and Scott.”

Jackson smiled. Talking about the late Alpha did nothing to make losing him seem less real. It did, however, make it hurt just slightly less. “Like father, like daughter. She’ll grow out of it… I did.”

Theo looked around the clinic. He hadn’t set foot in the place in months—not since he made sure that all the animals were returned to their owners before closing and locking the doors with no intention of reopening them. In truth, he wasn’t sure what he was doing here now. He supposed he was just missing Scott, though that was true no more of today than the last, the one before the that, or any since Theo had taken his life… again. Sure, on paper, Scott was his husband, but he was so much more than that. He was his best friend, his Alpha, his co-parent, and one of the few who saw good in him that Theo sometimes couldn’t even see in himself.

Theo was so caught up in his own head that he didn’t catch it right away. He cursed himself for not noticing the scent. The sound of the footfall, however, hit his ear and shattered his reverie. “Hello, Stiles,” he greeted without turning around to face the FBI agent.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Stiles told him icily.

“No,” Theo agreed. “I shouldn’t.”

The sound of gritting teeth met the Alpha’s ears. “I don’t mean the clinic. I mean in Beacon Hills… on the planet… alive.”

This time, Theo turned to face him. “I know what you meant, and you’re right. I should be in Hell or dead and rotting in the ground. Scott is the one who should be here.”

“You killed him!” Stiles shouted. Anger was evident in his chemo-signals, in his words, and his face. There were no tears like there once might have been. There were none left.

“Yes and no, but an argument of semantics isn’t why you’re here,” Theo told him, looking down at the gun in Stiles hand. “You came to kill me.”

It wasn’t a question. It was a statement of fact. Stiles, to his credit, didn’t try to deny it. He raised the weapon and pointed it at Theo. “The irony is that now that you’re not a chimera, this will work on you. It’s just regular wolfsbane, but that’s enough. You’re not a True Alpha… you’re not Scott.”

Theo shook his head. “You don’t think I know that? I just have one request before you kill me. Take care of our kids— _his_ kids.”

“Don’t you dare!” Stiles spat. “That’s how you wormed your way into his life even more than you already had. You wormed your way into Malia’s bed and got her pregnant, and because Scott was grieving, he did the stupid, typical Scott thing and decided to raise your child along with his own.”

Theo shook his head. “I need you to know the truth—one of them, anyway. If you’re going to hate me—to kill me—then go ahead, but make sure you understand that both of our children are his kids. I mean that literally. When Malia became pregnant with both of our children, Scott’s was dying.”

Stiles was furious. “You’re lying!”

“No. The children of bitten werewolves rarely survive because it is, at its core, a mutation. His child’s body was killing itself, just as Malia’s own body was trying to kill it,” Theo explained. “My child was a chimera, and because of the changes that the Dread Doctors made to me at the molecular level, it absorbed Scott’s child, incorporating its DNA. Two children became one, and then it split to become two. There is no Scott’s child or my child.”

Stiles, for all his cunning instincts, was not an expert in sciences outside of forensics. He was visibly processing it for a moment before he rejected the explanation in its entirety. “You’re lying!” he repeated.

“No,” a feminine voice countered. “He’s not.”

Lydia stood off to the side, the banshee completing a triangle between Alpha and human. “The two of them—as well as Malia—knew it when she was pregnant. She told me… she showed me the results. You like hard and fast numbers. What does your analytical mind say about a Y-chromosome that is 50% Scott and 50% Theo?”

Stiles stood still in silent contemplation. His face twisted in revulsion. “It says that this freakshow’s monster DNA killed an innocent baby.”

Lydia’s voice raised. “He was telling the truth. Bitten werewolves don’t procreate easily. If you don’t believe either of us, ask Derek. Theo’s DNA saved Scott’s child, allowing it to survive as part of his own.”

Stiles looked, momentarily, like his resolve was faltering, but he tightened his grip on the gun. It was still pointed squarely at Theo’s heart. “That doesn’t change the fact that he either raped or seduced Scott’s wife, knocking her up with the child that killed her!”

“No,” Lydia repeated.

Theo, who had remained silent, quickly spoke up. “Lydia, no!”

Stiles looked between them in confusion, but Lydia had never been one to bite her tongue. “Shut up, Theo!” she shouted at him. “I’m done with you playing the martyr. You’ve let this entire town—and Scott—believe something that simply wasn’t true.”

“What are you talking about?” Stiles asked his wife.

“Malia told me the truth about that, too,” she began, staring at Theo. “This whole town has whispered the same things Stiles just accused you of. Some called you a rapist at worst, or a philanderer at best. They think you seduced a married woman and then moved onto her widower, but you and I both know what actually happened.”

Theo shook his head. “Lydia, please.”

Stiles just stared at Lydia expectantly. Without hesitation, she explained further. “It was rape, alright,” she told her husband. “But Theo was the victim, not the rapist.”

The former chimera’s nostrils flared. “Lydia, don’t. He doesn’t need to know.”

“If he’s going to kill you, he needs to know what you’re actually guilty of, which is very damned little,” Lydia countered icily. She continued, “Malia found out she was pregnant, and she didn’t want to keep it. You know what can happen to a werecoyote when she gives birth. The problem?”

This was the one part of the tale that Stiles could tell. “Scott would never agree with ending a pregnancy.” True Alpha or no, technically raised Catholic or no, ending a life—as everyone knew—simply wasn’t in him.

“She hoped to drive a wedge between them long enough to end the pregnancy before Scott was ever the wiser. She chose the one person who had driven a wedge between them once before.” Her words trailed off as she looked at Theo.

Theo didn’t meet her gaze. He still felt guilty enough about those days without revisiting them. Lydia didn’t pause, though. “She drugged Theo and slept with him so that her chemo-signals and scent would betray her actions in a way that corroborated her story.”

Stiles was confused. “Why would she use Theo? She hated Theo.”

“That was why she used me,” Theo answered softly. “If Scott had to hate someone, she was willing for it to be me. She didn’t necessarily want me dead anymore, but that didn’t mean she’d forgiven me. Besides, she knew that Scott would eventually forgive me.”

“What she didn’t count on was becoming pregnant… again,” Lydia added. “She was willing to end one life, but not two. She decided to keep them both. One baby would take her power. A second would take her life. She knew that, and she decided to keep them both anyway. When the complications arose, Theo was the only one, thanks to his time with the Dread Doctors, who had the genetic expertise to know what was happening. It was because of him that Geyer was able to properly care for Malia and the twins. That was when she forgave him… and when she wanted to tell Scott the truth.”

Stiles was confused. “Why didn’t she?”

Theos spoke up. “I told her not to.”

“Why?” the FBI agent asked incredulously.

“Because I’d come between them before. Because I shot her. Take your pick,” Theo shrugged. “I had a lot of reasons for Scott to hate me. I was fine with giving him one more.”

“Malia told me that she was still going to tell him, but when the twins came early, she never got the chance,” Lydia lamented.

Stiles stared at his wife, a mixture of disbelief and answer. “Then why didn’t you?”

Theo raised his voice to get Stiles’ attention. “I begged her not to.”

Stiles shook his head. “Why?” he found himself saying yet again.

“Because he’d lost enough of Malia without losing his memories of her. At that time, I was fine with Scott hating me. God knows I deserved it,” Theo told him. “By the time I admitted to myself that I wanted—and needed—Scott’s forgiveness, I already had it. I wasn’t about to tear down the woman who gave her life to bring my kids into the world. There was no reason to.”

“All of this sounds awfully convenient, not to mention altruistic,” Stiles countered. “So, I’m supposed to just take your word that it’s just happenstance that my best friend is dead, and you’re now an Alpha werewolf?”

The old Theo crept out in a smirk. “Technically speaking, I’m an Alpha werecoywolf. Unlike Hayden’s werejaguar and werewolf sides, wolf and coyote are close enough that Scott’s bite didn’t erase my coyote side. I just went from being a created, artificial hybrid to a natural one,” he corrected dryly. “And you stopped being his best friend—or at least acting like it—years ago.”

He clearly got a rise out of Stiles, who raised his arm and leveled his aim. Lydia glowered at Theo. “You’re not helping.”

Stiles was clearly in agreement. “So, there’s some magical way that Malia put a whammy on your mind and caused you to sleep with her when wolfsbane didn’t work on you and mountain ash didn’t work on you?”

Theo said nothing, but Lydia, once again, remained far from silent. “Not some magical way. Malia was my best friend, but she was in the wrong. It wasn’t some mind control or seduction. It was rape. She used some sort of paralytic that was based on the chemicals the Dread Doctors had used to keep Douglas in stasis for decades. She never told me where she got it.”

Theo said nothing, but Stiles’ face paled. He looked like he was going to throw up. “What?” Lydia asked, looking between both men expectantly. The Alpha said nothing, but he was staring at the human. For his part, Stiles couldn’t meet either gaze. “Stiles?”

“The paralytic was one we had at the FBI in case we needed to stop a chimera,” he finally said. “It was a formula based on the Dread Doctors’ notes. It was not just those fluids, but a mix of mercury, wolfsbane, mountain ash, and a few other more esoteric ingredients.”

Lydia shook her head. “That doesn’t make sense. The mountain ash is one thing, but not every chimera was werewolf-based. Half of them, wolfsbane wouldn’t do a thing to if they were a natural shapeshifter….”

Ever the genius, pieces fell into place with every word. “A werewolf-werecoyote hybrid though?” she began, already stammering in disbelief. “It wasn’t designed to stop any chimera….”

“It was designed to stop me,” Theo acknowledged.

“But where would the FBI get access to those notes? Those ingredients? Who would have the understanding to put it all together?” She asked the questions, but she already knew the answer. Even had she not, the look on his face said it all. “Stiles?”

Stiles said nothing, so Lydia spun to face Theo. Theo’s face was passively neutral. She saw no surprise there. “You knew?”

Theo nodded. “Malia told me,” he confirmed. “It was designed to stop me alright. It was designed to kill me. She just used a micro-dose.”

“Why didn’t you tell Scott?” Stiles asked the Alpha. “You had to know that it would have driven a wedge between us that would have made it easy to get what you wanted.”

The former chimera shook his head. “I did that once before. I drove a wedge between you and your pack… between you and your best friend. I didn’t want that. I wanted Scott to have his best friend—to be happy—and I never blamed you… not then and not now. I owed you both that much.”

“Instead, the only wedge between you and Scott was one you created,” Lydia told her husband in a chilling tone. “Just like the one that you have created between us… _twice_. Our son is currently institutionalized with a mental break he suffered the night his uncle died, and instead of being with me or with him, you’re here with a gun on the father of your best friend’s children.”

She turned and walked away, the click of her heels on the tile of the clinic floor as she called out behind her, “Don’t come home.”

“Mom?” The voice was low, barely audible behind her. Lydia turned to see the twins watching her with the same look of concern that she no doubt had on her face as she watched her son sleeping so peacefully. Thankfully, not a shapeshifter, he didn’t stir as she shut the door. She wasn’t even sure who had called out to her. She was so lost in her own thoughts that it could have just as easily been Dani as Davi… _Dave_ , she corrected herself. Aiden David, named for Ethan’s brother and Jackson’s adoptive father, and Allison Danielle, named for their fallen friend and Danny Mahealani (Jackson’s best friend and Ethan’s one-time beau, also the man who brought them together in London).

She forced herself to smile. “What are you two doing up so late? You guys have school tomorrow.”

Dave blushed. “I could smell your worry. It woke me up….”

“… And he woke me up,” Dani added.

The banshee nodded. “I’m sorry. I just….” She choked up. The words caught in her throat as her voice failed her, so she let them fade away.

“We’ll take care of him,” both the werewolf and his sister said in unison. Noah was their brother in all but blood. Ever since he’d returned from Eichen, he was different. The carefree, happy-go-lucky kid was gone, replaced by something else… by someone else. He wasn’t introverted, per se, but he certainly wasn’t the boisterous extrovert he had been. The twins seemed to sense it and stayed close.

Lydia took both of their hands and gave them a squeeze. “Thank you,” she told them both. They’d stayed close to not only Noah but to her as well. Jackson and Ethan were back in Europe, and Stiles was out of the picture. She’d thrown him out, and once he was gone, he had stayed gone.

He had stayed gone because he’d started drinking again. He’d done that once before, just before they were married—after his father had died. He spiraled out of control and it kept them apart for over a year… long enough to find comfort in the arms of another. Noah was Stiles’ son in every way that counted, but there was a reason the boy had chiseled features and an athletic physique. He’d inherited them from his biological father… Jordan Parrish.

When Stiles got clean—with Scott’s help—he begged for her forgiveness. Still pregnant with her unborn son, the Hellhound sheriff unsurprisingly stepped aside. It wasn’t widely known outside the pack, but nor was it a deliberate secret. Stiles thought of Noah as his son, just as Noah thought of Stiles as his father, but Noah knows he can go to Jordan for anything. Stiles had never been jealous of the man, because he was just like Scott in that regard… he was too good to genuinely hate.

That forgiveness was a one-time thing. Lydia had little hope of him even trying for a repeat performance. Scott was gone. There was no one who could reach him in that way. There was no one who could break through all the bullshit barriers he would put up around himself. Stiles was no doubt spiraling more, now that he was on suspension. Rafe had been forced to put him on leave after he showed up to work drunk, not an easy decision given his own history with alcohol abuse.

“Mom?” one of the twins repeated, snapping her out of her own head. Lydia forced herself to smile again. “Please tell me you guys will watch him out on that field, too. I’m worried he’s going to get hurt out there, but his determination to play is one of the few things that remains unchanged—he still seems like Noah when he talks about playing. I said something to Liam, but….”

It was Davi who finished her thought, because he understood it even more acutely than his sister. “But Coach Dunbar is still barely holding it together after Uncle Scott died. He was his Alpha,” the werewolf reminded her. “It hurt all of us, of course, but losing not just a pack member but an Alpha? It’s crippling. Most of us survived by clinging onto our connection to Uncle Theo. Coach Dunbar, though? He’s always had this anger towards Uncle Theo, so I don’t think he’s connected anymore… to anyone.”

The banshee listened as her son explained. Knowing how close Liam and Scott had been, it had to be devastating if he was drifting away from the pack without any emotional tethers. “He needs an Alpha,” Dani reiterated. “If he’s got this hard-on to stay pissed off at Uncle Theo for whatever it is that happened before we were even born, he better cozy up with Cam before he loses it. An inexperienced, teenaged Alpha is better than no Alpha.”

Lydia didn’t understand pack dynamics as well as a shapeshifter, and the presence of two Alphas in the same pack outside of the days of old with the Deucalion and company was unheard of in every instance she was aware of. “I’m glad you guys have gotten close to your cousin. He’s probably going to need you as much as your brother will… maybe more.”

The nascent Alpha spent months grieving. In all that time, the person he’d become closest to was Noah. After losing virtually everyone he’d ever known, he would go visit the dissociated boy daily and just talk. Marin said it was like his own personal therapy. The former Emissary, now a staff psychologist at Eichen, remained a sideline ally to the pack long after her brother had left Beacon Hills. She was the one who called Lydia after some instinct drove Cam’s claws into the back of her son’s neck and woke him up. Both the druid and Theo were at a lost to explain what the teen had done, but the banshee didn’t care. Noah could talk to her. He could hug her back when she hugged him.

Intriguingly, Noah remembered every word of Cam’s conversations with him, and the two bonded in a way that wasn’t entirely unexpected. Cam didn’t know Noah before, so there were no expectations there. Noah had been lost inside his own head, and Cam was lost among friends, pack, and family that he didn’t know. The pair were both strangers in a strange land. It was why Cam’s address of record was sort of a moot point, as he was as likely sleeping here with Noah as he was at his Uncle Derek’s, his grandpa Chris’, or with his cousins and Theo. He was craving pack in a visceral way.

As she thought about how grateful she was to Cam, she thought about how mad she was at Stiles. She’d been in no shape to drive, so Jordan had to go with her. “First day of school tomorrow. Bed… now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character reference cheat sheet:
> 
>  **Children of Scott McCall/Theo Raeken/Malia Tate** (No middle names given, as multiples were considered by the parents, who ultimately remained undecided)  
> Talia McCall, 17, female Beta werecoyote  
> Tate McCall, 17, male Beta werecoyote
> 
>  **Children of Jackson Whittemore/Ethan Steiner (carried by surrogate Lydia Martin)**  
>  Aiden David "Dave/Davi" Whittemore, 16, male Beta werewolf  
> Allison Danielle "Dani" Whittemore, 16, female human
> 
>  **Children of Lydia Martin/Jordan Parrish (adopted son of Stiles Stilinski)**  
>  Noah Martin Stilinski, 17, male human
> 
>  **Children of Cora Hale/Isaac Lahey**  
>  Scott Camden "Cam" Argent Hale, 16, male Alpha werewolf

**Author's Note:**

> This story has spun out of a role-playing game I'm running, with the first chapter as a backdrop for what has happened before the game started. I will be converting the events into a narrative form to continue the story of the Teen Wolf Pack ... both old and new.


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